The profile of the course has never been higher thanks to back
to back wins in 2009 and 2010 for Frankie Dettori in the William
Hill (Ayr) Gold Cup and also Merigo, trained by Alan Parker and
owned by Raymond Anderson Green, becoming the first Scottish
trained horse in 28 years to win the Coral Scottish Grand
National.
Crowds at Ayr during 2010 were very healthy and up on the previous
year and heading into the new year confidence is high for another
positive 12 months.
With three meetings in January, a further three in February and
two more in March the team at Ayr will head into April well
prepared for the Coral Scottish Grand National Festival on Friday
April 15 and Saturday April 16 .
The richest jumps race meeting in Scotland will again featuring
some of the top horses, trainers and jockeys in the sport and all
these ingredients combine to make this one of the spectacles of the
entire National Hunt season in the UK..
The Friday action features the Hillhouse Quarry Handicap
Chase which has produced some notable winners over the years
including Three Mirrors from the Ferdy Murphy stable and the highly
rated Jim Goldie trained Stormin' Exit. This race also features one
of the longest running sponsorships at the track dating back more
than 17 years.
Coral Scottish Grand National Saturday remains the best attended
single fixture of the year at Ayr Racecourse and is one of the most
fabulous spectacles in sport. Up to 30 runners thunder round the
track for over four miles and the scenes in the Winners Enclosure
afterwards are befitting of such a historical event.
For the first time the 2011 Scottish National will feature some
portable fences as Ayr Clerk of the Course Emma Marley has invested
in three such fences - two in the back straight and one in the home
straight which will replace other obstacles and 27 fences will
still be jumped.
And although it is difficult to predict anything this far out
there could well be another Scottish trained winner with Lucinda
Russell's Silver By Nature, owned by Geof Brown, chairman of St
Johnstone, being trained with the race very much in mind.
As ever the Coral Scottish National Festival brings the curtain
down on the National Hunt season at Ayr and come May - the 25th and
26th to be exact the flat season will kick off with a two day
fixture.
In 2011 there will be 16 flat fixtures at Ayr with more than a few
highlights on the way. In recent years one of the fastest growing
meetings at the track is the Saints and Sinners Racenight and
Scottish Sun Raceday coming on the evening of June 17 and the
afternoon of June 18.
More than 16,500 attended the two day fixture in 2010 and while
Alexandra Burke's appearance after racing at Saints and Sinners was
memorable the highlight undoubtedly was the racecourse debut of the
Richard Fahey trained Wootton Basset in the Real Radio EBF Maiden
Stakes on the Scottish Sun Raceday.
Little did anyone realise then that this horse, which won at 11/4
would go onto be one of the best juveniles of the season and land a
Group 1 race at Longchamp and pick up more than £500,000 in prize
money during the season.
It remains to be seen if the Scottish Sun Raceday 2011 produces
another equine star but one thing is certain it will be once again
one of the best Saturday afternoon fixtures of the summer and one
of three fixtures during the year that is shown live on Channel 4 -
the others being the Coral Scottish Grand National Saturday and the
William Hill (Ayr) Gold Cup Saturday.
A new fixture on Monday July 11 now means there will be three
Monday meetings in July on the 11th, the traditional Glasgow Fair
Monday on the 18th and also on the 25th. There then follows Ladies
Night on August 6 and a Tuesday afternoon fixture on August
9.
The three day William Hill (Ayr) Gold Cup Festival running from
Thursday September 15 until Saturday September 18 is the showpiece
of the flat seasion at Ayr with some fabulous races over the three
days.
This meeting as with the Coral Scottish Grand National Festival
attracts enthusiasts from all over the UK and Ireland to enjoy top
quality horse racing and entertainment.
One of the longest established fixtures in the horse racing
calendar dating back to the early 19th century the Festival oozes
class combining some of the best horses in the land with the top
jockeys and trainers.
The opening day of the Festival features the
williamhill.com/bonus25 Handicap for the Kilkerran Cup while the
two main races on Friday are the William Hill (Ayr) Bronze Cup over
six furlongs for horses who failed to get into either the Gold or
Silver Cups and the Harry Rosebery Stakes for the South Ayrshire
Cup, a Listed Race for two year olds.
There are seven races on Thursday and Friday and eight on Saturday
when the highlight is undoubtedly the William Hill (Ayr) Gold Cup
over the straight six furlongs - Europe's richest sprint handicap
with £150,000 in prize money.
Te William Hill (Ayr) Silver Cup is also run on the Saturday -
about an hour before its big brother - and two other outstanding
races on the Saturday are the williamhill.com Doonside Cup, a
Listed Race, and the Laundry Cottage Stud Firth Of Clyde
Stakes.
Upwards of 22,000 people flock to the William Hill (Ayr) Gold Cup
over the three days and there is a truly terrific atmosphere not
just at the track but all round town.